


Three Ways to Study Anatomy, Part 1: The Usual Way

by Vizkopa



Series: Three Ways to Study Anatomy [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Stripper/Exotic Dancer, F/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2018-11-23 20:42:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11409843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vizkopa/pseuds/Vizkopa





	1. The Freshman

You woke long before your morning alarm and stared up at your ceiling from your bed as the sky outside lightened. Today was the big day. The car was packed, the fuel tank full, and your iPod was loaded with music and podcasts for the trip. You were as prepared as you possibly could be for the big move to college, but anxiety still gnawed at you.

This would be the first time you’d ever been away from home for more than a few weeks, your first taste of complete independence. The mere thought of it _terrified_ you to the very core, but getting out of this small town had been a long time coming and you were eager for a change of scenery. You found yourself counting down the seconds on your clock in anticipation rather than dread.

When you could finally stay still no longer, you got up and dressed in the clothes you’d laid out the night before. You packed the few last-minute things you had left and by the time you were done, the sun had finally crested the horizon. Your parents would be getting up soon and shortly after, it would be time to say your goodbyes. 

The thought made you choke up a bit, but you pushed the tears back down, berating yourself. You were an adult now. Life was about to get a hell of a lot tougher than this. Besides, home would only be a few hours away; you could always drive down and visit for the weekend.

You only had the appetite to pick at your breakfast that morning and your mother fussed over you as she always did.

“If you’re not going to eat now, at least promise me you’ll take something for the road.”

You promised her you would and she started crying.

“This is the last time I get to pack your lunch. I can’t believe you’re all grown up and off to college.”

“She’s only going to be a few hours away. It’s not like she’s leaving the country, honey,” your father piped up from behind his morning newspaper.

“Yeah, Mom, I’ll come visit whenever I can.”

“I know, I know,” she sobbed, but it didn’t stop her almost crushing your ribs when it was time to say goodbye.

You thought you had your own crying situation under control, but when you broke the hug, you felt an unwitting tear slip down your cheek. You brushed it away hastily and moved on to hug your father goodbye. He ruffled your hair teasingly.

“Drive safe, okay?”

“Yes, Dad,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“And no frat parties.”

You scoffed. “I don’t even go to regular parties, what makes you think I’m gonna start now?”

“I know. Just be careful.”

“I’m always careful,” you grinned. 

You hugged them both one more time, then you were buckling up and pulling out of the driveway. Your beat up old Ford rumbled noisily into the street, a few of the neighbours appearing in their windows or over the top of fences at the sound. Their endless gossiping was something you definitely were not going to miss about small town life.

You waved to your parents, a smile starting to creep onto your face as the adrenaline finally kicked in, and you were off.

_Grand Line University, here I come._

The drive took the remainder of the morning and into the afternoon. You stopped briefly at a pit stop to refresh yourself and dive into the packed lunch your mother had made you. She’d gone all out with sandwiches and fruit salad. She’d even cut off your crusts, which you hadn’t asked her to do in years. You felt a twinge of homesickness as you ate your lunch, but by the time you had finished, the excitement was back and you were eager to be on the road again.

The sun was just past its peak in the sky when you finally reached the city outskirts. You pulled up the navigator on your phone and punched in the address for the university, following the nav’s instructions diligently. You silently thanked your past self for setting the nav voice to ‘Male’ and ‘Australian’ because the accent made driving in the city much more enjoyable.

When you finally rolled up to the gates, a huge sign greeted you welcoming new students and directing them, by way of garish orange arrow, to the dorms. You fished in the glove box for the piece of paper with your dorm assignment written on it. It was on the east side of campus and you followed the map hastily scrawled on the back of the paper until you pulled up in the assigned parking of a large blue building in a complex of many more blue buildings. You shut off the ignition.

“Well, this is it,” you said to yourself.

The dorm appeared to be empty when you entered. The kitchen and living area was spacious and neat, with a hall to the rear that no doubt led to the bedrooms and bathroom. You found your room easily, one of only four in the dormitory.

Considering the emptiness of the rest of the dorm, you had expected your room to be empty too, but as the door swung inwards you almost dropped your armful of belongings in fright. A woman with fiery ginger hair looked up from the magazine she had splayed open in her lap at the sound of the latch turning and smiled at you.

“You must be the new girl. I’m Nami, your roommate.” She bounced to her feet and offered you her hand. “Feel free to borrow anything from my closet, but I’ll have to charge you a fee.” She winked.

You shook the offered hand awkwardly around the box in your arms. “Uh, hi, I’m [Name],” you replied, recovering from your initial surprise. “And I’ll pass, thanks…” You took the opportunity to look around the space.

Two beds, two desks, and two wardrobes took up most of the space. A small window was set into the wall between the beds, looking out onto the rest of the campus across the road. Nami appeared to have already claimed the left side of the room, her wardrobe already overflowing with clothes and bed hastily made. She appeared to have been there for a few days already.

“I hope you don’t mind I already chose my bed,” she said sheepishly.

“No, it’s fine!” you said hurriedly, dropping your box onto the unoccupied bed. “I didn’t have a preference.”

Nami beamed at you. “Great! How much more do you have? I’ll help you bring it in.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to do that. It’s just a few bags.” You were somewhat overwhelmed by Nami’s kindness, but it was very much welcome in your anxious state.

She waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it, it’ll give us a chance to chat and get to know each other.”

You thought, considering the two of you would be living together for the next semester, you’d have plenty of time to get to know each other, but you hadn’t the heart to reject her offer again. She followed you out to your car, chatting animatedly all the way.

“We’ll have the dorm to ourselves for a bit, I think the others aren’t planning to move in until tonight or tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll like them though. Almost all of us were in the same dorm last semester too. There’s just one new girl I think, a fresher like you. I’ll introduce you to the others as they arrive. So, what’s your major?”

“Uh, Human Biology.”

“Nice! You wanna be a doctor or something?”

“Well that’s what my parents want but… I don’t really know yet…”

“Oh, well there’s plenty of time to find out, I guess. A lot of people end up changing their minds halfway through and switch to a completely new major.”

“What’s your major?”

She beamed at you, as if she had just been waiting for an opportunity to talk about it. “Geography. Second year. I want to be a cartographer.”

You listened to her talk on and on about maps and how rising sea levels meant coast lines would eventually need to be redrawn as you carried your bags inside. You barely got a word in edgewise, but you didn’t mind. Nami seemed genuine and her company was far better than you could have hoped for.

It was late into the night when you finally finished unpacking, interrupted a few times by the arrival of two others: Vivi, a second-year Ancient History student who already seemed to know Nami quite well, and Rebecca, a fellow first year majoring in Political Science. Both girls occupied the room diagonal from yours and Nami’s, to which they retired once the conversation had been exhausted.

Yawning, you made your way to the shared bathroom to brush your teeth before retiring for the night yourself. One of the shower stalls was occupied when you entered but you paid no mind, going about your nightly routine as usual. You washed your face and prepared your toothbrush, and you had just placed it in your mouth when the shower suddenly stopped and out of the stall walked a man—a very naked man with only a towel slung low around his waist to protect his modesty. You almost choked on your toothbrush. 

His dark hair was dripping wet and he reached up to push the strands back from his freckled face. Droplets slid down his equally freckled shoulders and over the planes of his chest, lean and muscular. You swallowed thickly, your toothbrush hanging slightly from your mouth as you followed those droplets downward, catching briefly on his prominent hipbones before disappearing into the towel that looked like as if could slip from his waist at any moment.

He must have seen you staring because he caught your eye in the mirror, flashing you a lazy, lopsided smirk that sent your heart fluttering. You quickly averted your gaze, the pink tinge in your cheeks in the mirror not going unnoticed. 

He sauntered up beside you, deliberately taking the sink directly to your left despite there being two more he could have chosen from, and reached for what you could only assume was his toothbrush on the counter. Then he turned to you. You found it very hard to keep your eyes focused on his face; they kept unconsciously drifting downwards.

“Hey, can I borrow some toothpaste, by any chance?”

_Oh. Oh no_. He had an _accent_. A cute one too.

By that point, you were pretty sure your eyes were literally bulging from their sockets, you were staring so hard. This attractive Australian boy with freckles that were too damn cute for that God damn _sinful_ body was asking you to borrow your toothpaste and you had no idea what to do.

Wordlessly, you slid the toothpaste tube across the counter to him and he thanked you. You avoided his eyes, but quickly realised that looking anywhere else was equally bad. You tried to focus on your own reflection in the mirror but your eyes kept drifting unwittingly, drawn to the splash of freckles across his shoulder, or the curve of his hip peeking above the edge of the towel.

You hurried to finish brushing your teeth, not even bothering to rinse as you snatched up your things and turned to leave, failing to realise that, in your haste, you left your toothpaste behind. You raced down the hall back to your room, hurriedly closing the door behind you and sagging against it, a bead of sweat rolling down your temple.

“What’s up with you?” Nami asked, noting your flushed face and the damp hair clinging to your forehead. “You look like you just ran a marathon.”

You flushed deeper. “I, er, ran into a guy in the bathroom…”

She smiled knowingly. “Dark hair, freckles, apparently doesn’t know what a shirt is?”

You stared at her, incredulous, and nodded.

“That’s just Ace. Don’t worry, he’s harmless. Just tell him to put a shirt on next time if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“Is he… your boyfriend?”

Nami laughed, as if the mere prospect was the funniest thing in the world. “Oh no, Ace doesn’t date.”

You couldn’t help but feel a small twinge of disappointment at her words. _What was wrong with you? You’d only just met the guy…_

“Then what’s he doing here?”

“He lives here. He and his friend Sabo have the room across from ours. Don’t worry, Ace might be a fuckboy, but he knows better than to bring his, er… _exploits_ here. He knows I’d kill him if he ever interrupted my beauty sleep.” She said this so casually, you almost couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.

You stared at her, lost in the sudden torrent of information about the sex life of this man you had literally _just_ met. Naked. While you were brushing your teeth. But something you heard didn’t quite add up. You shook your head.

“Wait, he _lives_ here? I thought it was just girls in this dorm?”

Sudden realisation dawned on Nami’s face. “[Name], were you aware that this is a co-ed dorm?”

You looked at her despairingly. She had been talking non-stop since the moment you had arrived, but not once during any point in the conversation did she think to bring up that very important fact? 

“No!?”

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t even think to mention it.” She offered you an apologetic smile. “You might be able to change dorms if you talk to the head office, but by now they’re probably all full.”

You took a deep breath. Okay. This was okay. You’d just met a random naked guy in the bathroom, but at least he hadn’t been _naked_ naked. It wasn’t nearly as bad as some of the diagrams in your anatomy text books. You could handle this.

“No. No, it’s okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Just… Wasn’t expecting it is all.”

She didn’t look convinced. “Well, as long as you’re okay with it.”

Were you okay with it? You had nothing against living with boys, but you were beginning to severely doubt your ability to study effectively when you knew a man like _that_ would be sleeping right across the hall.

One thing was for sure—you were in for one hell of an interesting semester.


	2. #DormLyf

You were woken early the next morning to the sound of unfamiliar voices arguing, and it took a moment for the fog over your brain to lift and remember where you were. In the bed beside yours, you heard Nami groan and roll over.

“What the hell?” you muttered to yourself as you slipped quietly out from under the covers and went to investigate the source of the commotion. A quick glance at your alarm clock told you it was _way_ too early for whatever was going on out in the hallway.

You glance back at Nami as you left the room. She remained buried amongst her bedclothes, a pillow pressed firmly over her ears. All you could see of her was a mess of flaming hair amongst the white sheets. You decided to let her sleep, closing the door to the hall behind you as you left to give her some semblance of peace and quiet.

In the hall outside the room next to yours and Nami’s were two men you had never seen before, but it was clear they knew each other.

“Will you move your shit off my bed already?”

“ _Your_ bed? First come, first served, asshole. I got here first, so it’s _my_ bed!”

“Bullshit! I slept in that bed all last year. You can’t just suddenly decide you want it!”

“Uh, excuse me…”

The two men looked up at the sound of your voice and blinked at you in surprise. One was tall and blond, impeccably dressed as if he’d just come straight from a fashion shoot. The other was dressed in gym clothes that accentuated his thick arms and powerful chest, and his hair was a vibrant shade of spring green. The blond was the first to acknowledge your presence.

“Look what you’ve done, you idiot,” he directed at the other boy, “you’ve gone and woken someone up!” He rushed forward and bent down on one knee to take your hand in his. “I apologise if my roommate’s unrefined voice roused you from your sleep, my dear lady.”

“Uh…” You blinked down at him and then up at the green-haired man, who visibly rolled his eyes. Something in your expression must have read _‘save me’_ because the next thing you knew, he was dragging the blond back by the collar.

“Stop being so dramatic, you moron. You played as much a part of this as I did,” he growled. “Sorry,” he added bluntly in your general direction.

“Oi! Apologise to her properly, moss-head!”

“I said I was sorry!”

The two launched back into their argument, continuing as if you weren’t even there.

By then, the other occupants of the dorm had begun to emerge to see what all the fuss was about. Rebecca and Vivi stood yawning in the doorway to their room, looking rather bleary-eyed and confused. 

Ace was rubbing the sleep from his eyes and seemed in imminent danger of falling asleep right where he stood. You weren’t surprised to see he was without a shirt once again, or pants for that matter, and quickly averted your eyes to the blond boy you didn’t recognise standing beside him. 

He looked sufficiently rumpled sporting an oversized blue t-shirt that was slowly making its way down one shoulder, and an impressive bedhead, which he was attempting to tame with his fingers while looking on at the argument with increasing distress. You surmised he must have been Ace’s roommate.

“Just make out already, jeez,” Ace yawned.

The two men flushed beet-red and turned on Ace. You swore you could almost see the steam rising from their ears.

“I would never—!”

“What the hell—?”

The door behind you clicked open and everyone fell silent. You watched the two men pale in sudden fear and as you turned to look behind you, you understood why.

“It’s 6am… on a Sunday…” Nami’s voice was dangerously calm. “What… could possibly be so important… that you have to wake up _the entire dorm with your stupidity?_ Sanji!” she snapped, directing her gaze to the blond man. “Explain.”

Sanji seemed to crumple under her glare. “I’m so sorry, Nami! Zoro—”

“Oi, don’t go blaming me!” Zoro cried. “You started it!”

Nami shot them both a death glare and they fell silent immediately. “I don’t care who started it, I’m ending it. If I hear one more word out of you this morning before 9am, I swear to _God_ , I will make staying in this dorm a living hell for both of you.”

There was a muttered “yes, ma’am” and an emphatic nod from Zoro.

“I’m going back to bed.”

Nami returned to her room, shutting the door sharply behind her. 

Everyone stared at the closed door in silence for a long moment, as if she was waiting just beyond it and if anyone so much as sneezed, she would reappear with murderous intent.

You made a mental note to never get on that woman’s bad side.

Eventually, everyone began filing away back to their designated rooms, Sanji and Zoro still arguing, albeit in hushed voices this time. You didn’t fancy trying to get back to sleep in the same room as Nami right now. You were already up, might as well stay up. 

You slipped into your room as quietly as you could to gather up your toiletries, before heading to the bathroom to shower. You figured everyone else would be trying to catch a few more hours of sleep as it was their last morning of freedom before classes began. As expected, the bathroom was deserted, and you took your time showering and refreshing yourself after the long hours of travel from the day before.

By the time you emerged, you could hear the others beginning to rise in the other rooms. You wrapped a towel tightly around yourself and proceeded with your morning routine. But as you exited the shower stall, someone was already standing at the mirror.

Ace—who was, thankfully, fully dressed for once—spotted you in the mirror and grinned around the toothbrush in his mouth. “Fancy seeing you here.”

You yelped and clutched the towel to your chest before disappearing back inside the stall.

“Hey, it’s okay.” His voice echoed off the tiled walls. “I don’t bite.”

“…it’s not that…”

“Oh, right. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna peek. Besides, now we’re even.”

You peered out from behind the shower curtain. 

“I can leave if that would make you more comfortable.”

Oh no, hot _and_ sweet? This guy was going to be the death of you.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll just… Give me a second.”

You cursed yourself for not bringing a change of clothes. You had been too preoccupied with making as little noise as possible so Nami didn’t try to strangle you in your sleep later that night. Instead, you hastily threw your pyjamas back on, well aware that you hadn’t worn a bra to bed, but you hoped Ace wouldn’t notice.

Finally, you emerged.

“Good morning!” he said cheerfully as you took up a spot beside him at the mirror. 

“Morning…”

“I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced. I’m Ace, arts major, third year.”

“[Name], human biology, first year.”

Ace grinned. “I could tell you were new. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to the whole co-ed situation soon enough.”

_Easy for you to say,_ you thought to yourself.

The two of you continued your routine in silence—companionable to him, awkward to you. When it came to brush your teeth, however, you reached into your bag for your toothpaste, but came up empty handed.

“Damn it,” you cursed under your breath, rooting through various makeup brushes and makeup tubes that you were sure you hardly ever even used.

“Looking for this?” He held out the tube of toothpaste, an amused smile tugging at his lips. “You were in such a hurry last night, you left it behind.”

“Oh. Yes. Thank you.”

“No worries.” He gathered up his things and made to leave. “See ya around, [Name].”

“Yeah. See you.” You tried not to let it show how much him saying your name in that accent affected you.

When you finally exited your room fully dressed and refreshed, there was a heavenly scent about the dorm. Your stomach growled insistently at the promise of food and you followed your nose to the common area, where Sanji was busy at work behind the stove.

Ace and his roommate entered behind you.

“You’ve outdone yourself this time, Sanji,” Ace remarked, his eyes wide as he took in all the food.

“Think of it as an apology for the commotion earlier,” said Sanji.

“I can’t guarantee Nami will fall for it, but I accept your apology pancakes.” Ace seated himself at the table, on which an elaborate breakfast feast had been laid out. His roommate took a seat beside him.

Sanji looked distressed. “You don’t think I ruined my chances with Nami, do you?”

Ace snorted. “Implying you ever had a chance with her in the first place?”

“Watch it, Portgas, or no pancakes for you.” As he waved the spatula threateningly at Ace, Sanji caught sight of you across the room and his face immediately broke out into a smile. “Ah, my lady! My morning has become brighter having seen your fresh face! I apologise for my rudeness this morning, I never got a chance to introduce myself. Sanji Vinsmoke, at your service.” He bowed. Actually _bowed_.

“I’m [Name],” you replied awkwardly. “And don’t worry about it. This all looks amazing, by the way.”

Sanji beamed at you. “Help yourself to anything you like, dear [Name].” He returned to bickering with Ace as he absentmindedly flipped yet another pancake onto the seemingly endless pile on the table.

You took a seat across from the two boys and helped yourself to a serving of pancakes, feeling a sudden twinge of homesickness as you caught the delicious scent. The blond boy waited until you were done before piling his own plate high with pancakes, pouring a generous helping of maple syrup over his stack.

“Hey, I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced yet,” he said, beaming across the table at you. “I’m Sabo, Ace’s roommate.”

“I’m [Name], nice to meet you.”

“You’re a first year, right?”

“Yes. I just moved up to the city yesterday,” you smiled sheepishly. He could probably already tell from your accent that you weren’t local.

Ace seemed to have finally stopped arguing with Sanji and had taken an interest in your conversation. “Oh, we’ve got ourselves a country girl.”

Sabo looked at you with sympathy. “I bet that’s hard, being so far from home. I know a little of what that’s like.”

You shrugged. “It’s alright so far. Everything is just so… _big_ here compared to back home.”

“I bet it is,” Ace snickered. Sabo gave him a disapproving look.

“What are you, twelve?” He turned back to you. “Ignore him, please.”

You heard Ace mumble something under his breath that was along the lines of “ _you would have laughed too if you weren’t just trying to impress the new girl._ ”

Sabo flushed slightly, but ignored Ace and continued. “The campus can be a little overwhelming at first, but you’ll get used to everything soon enough. If you’re not busy later, I can show you around.”

You felt relief flood your senses and you offered Sabo a soft smile. “That would be a big help, thank you.”

Sabo gave you a dazzling grin in return. “Great! Then it’s settled: I’ll be your official tour guide for today. Care to join us, Ace?”

Ace only mumbled something about “work” before stuffing his mouth full of pancake.

“Guess it’s just you and me,” Sabo said sheepishly. “How ‘bout we meet out here in an hour and I’ll give you the full tour.”

Ace muttered something else that sounded suspiciously like “that’s not all you want to give her,” which earned him a sharp elbow to the ribs.

You smiled, a faint blush colouring your cheeks. 

“That sounds great.”


	3. Oh No... He's Cute

Sabo was already waiting for you in the kitchen when you emerged from your room an hour later. It looked like he had attempted to tame his bed head but had given up after just a few attempts and simply jammed a baseball cap over the unruly mess to compensate. You could still see a few tufts sticking out from the back of his head. It was rather endearing, actually. He waved you over, grinning cheerfully.

“Ready to go?”

You smiled and nodded, shouldering your backpack and unfolding the paper with your class schedule printed on it. Sabo peered over your shoulder.

“Aw man, your classes are all over the place… Psychology, chemistry, anatomy. I hope you’re wearing comfy shoes today.”

“Is the campus really that big?”

He grinned. “You’ll see for yourself soon enough.” He opened the door and held it for you. “After you.”

Before you could follow through, a body brushed past you and through the open door.

“Aw, thanks, babe,” Ace cooed, jostling the cap on Sabo’s head as he passed the stunned boy. “Always such a gentleman.” Ace winked at you and gave a curt wave. “Have fun on your date you two!”

“It’s not a date!” Sabo shouted after his roommate, an light blush colouring his cheeks. “He’s always like this,” he sighed. “Let’s go.”

The walk to campus was only a few minutes and Sabo filled it easily with chatter about his flat mates and questions about your degree. While he talked, you picked up the trace of an accent, though it only slipped out when he was talking particularly animatedly about a subject. English, perhaps, but before you could ask about it, he announced your arrival.

A few students milled about on the front lawn but otherwise the campus was quiet. You guessed most students had either yet to arrive or were too busy enjoying their last day of freedom before semester began. Only the truly dedicated (you guessed mostly freshmen) seemed eager to get the lay of the land before the big day. The scarcity of the students only seemed to make the campus look all the bigger.

Sabo chuckled as you gaped at the sheer size of it. “It won’t seem so big tomorrow when classes start, trust me.” He pointed to little coffee shop that was just opening its doors for the morning. “Hey, wanna grab something to go? We have a lot of walking to do.”

You shook your head. “I’m fine. I don’t drink coffee anyway.”

“You might regret that when you’re drowning in papers in a few weeks’ time,” he chuckled. “But that’s okay, they serve tea too. C’mon.”

You followed him into the quaint store, the bell above the door ringing cheerfully as you entered. Sabo was already chatting up the girl at the till, leaning casually at the counter as she blushed and giggled at something he had said. You sidled up to him awkwardly, not sure if you should broadcast that you were here together or not, but before you could decide, he turned to you and smiled.

“What would you like? It’s on me.”

You tried desperately to ignore the death glare from the girl behind the counter while Sabo’s back was turned to her.

“Just an English Breakfast. Thanks.”

You caught the amused tug at the corner of his lips. “No problem. You can owe me one.”

You blushed. How could he elicit that response from you with such ease? You’d know this boy for barely the duration of the morning and he was already buying you tea. You didn’t have the experience to be able to tell if he was simply being nice or if he had an ulterior motive. You gave him the benefit of the doubt for now and went with the former.

“Thanks,” you said again awkwardly as he handed you a steaming to-go cup. “You didn’t have to.”

He dismissed your protest with a smile and a wave of his hand. “Don’t worry about it. You can get the next one.”

You smiled shyly, burying your face in your drink to hide the pink flush that was blooming on your cheeks. You sipped at your tea as you walked, warming your hands on the cardboard cup. It was chilly for September, but the clear sky promised a warm day ahead.

Sabo, now sufficiently caffeinated, was only more enthusiastic about the tour, pointing out buildings almost faster than you could follow.

“That’s the engineering wing. And that’s the library over there. Oh, and that’s the architecture building which, ironically, is probably the worst designed building in the history of ever.”

You laughed. “Seriously?”

“Seriously. You don’t have any classes in there, do you?”

You glanced at your schedule. “Not this time.”

“Count yourself lucky. We call it Hogwarts because I swear the staircases move when you’re not looking. I swear to God, you can take the stairs from the third floor and end up on the fifth without even realising you passed the fourth. And one staircase _only_ leads to the men’s bathroom. It makes no sense!”

You laughed. You were beginning to realise how easy that was with him.

As you continued the tour, you noticed quite a few older students greet Sabo as they passed him by. He greeted them back cheerfully, sometimes stopping to ask them how their summer had been or what classes they were taking this year. He seemed quite popular, which you realised came as no surprise to you. He was handsome, friendly, and evidently very bright. It was impossible _not_ to like him.

“What’s your major, Sabo?” you asked him during a lull in the conversation. You realised you had been so busy answering questions about yourself that you hadn’t really had the chance to ask him any of your own.

“Oh! I completely forgot to mention it. International relations, with a minor in Spanish.”

“Wow, that’s impressive!”

He rubbed the back of his neck shyly. “Heh, I wouldn’t say that. I just… really want to help make the world a better place, you know?”

You smiled at him softly. “That’s pretty admirable if you ask me.”

He blushed and gave you a wide grin. “Thanks.”

Modest too. You didn’t think it was possibly for men to come this perfect. 

“So, Human Biology, huh? You want to be a doctor?”

You hummed. “I’m not sure yet. My parents want me to be go into medicine but… to be honest I just want to help people, I don’t really mind how.”

“Now I’d say _that’s_ admirable.”

You smiled shyly and looked away, searching desperately around for a way to change the subject to calm your flaming cheeks.

“What’s that building over there?”

“That,” said Sabo, immediately falling back into the role of enthusiastic tour guide. “Is the observatory…”

The tour ended at the campus main cafeteria, where the two of you grabbed lunch and Sabo regaled you with stories of his freshman year. Mostly stories about Ace embarrassing himself in ways that sent you reeling into fits of giggles.

“Wait he spelled his name wrong _on his own tattoo_?”

“I kid you not. He spelled it with an ‘s’. You can ask him about it, but he’ll say it was intentional, but we all know he was just drunk off his head.”

Your laugh was cut short as a shadow fell over your table and you looked up to find the very same freckled face you had just been thinking of.

“Giving away all my best stories on the first day, Sabo? I need to preserve _some_ of my mystery.”

He plopped himself down in the empty chair at your table and immediately helped himself to some of Sabo’s fries. 

“And just for the record,” he jabbed his fry at Sabo, “it _was_ intentional. I got the ‘s’ for you, my dear BFF, but now I think I might just have to get it crossed out on account of you being a bad friend,” he pouted.

Sabo rolled his eyes. “Sure, dude. How was work?”

“Private gig. You know how they go,” Ace said with a shrug, swindling another fry before Sabo finally swatted his hand away.

Sabo nodded as if he knew exactly what Ace was talking about, but you could only glance between the two of them, utterly oblivious.

“What is it you do?”

You didn’t fail to catch the amused glance the two boys shared. 

“Entertainment.”

They refused to say any more on the subject.

The three of you parted ways after lunch, you thanking Sabo profusely for his help while Ace snickered at his flustered friend behind his back. You headed back to the dorms with a spring in your step and a flutter in your chest that you simply brushed off as nerves about starting classes the next day. But later that evening, when you were zoning out during one of your readings for Psych 101, you found your thoughts drifting back to Sabo and the way his eyes lingered on you just a little too long when he thought you weren’t looking…

So much for getting any study done this semester.


End file.
